The specific and selective handling of larger animal livestock has always presented a physical challenge to handlers particularly if the livestock is to be separated or sorted in an efficient manner. In an attempt to assist in such operations, various enclosures and gating systems have been devised as mechanical means of directing animals as required. However such systems, while providing adequate control over the sorting of groups of animals begin to encounter difficulties if individual animals are to be selectively sorted on a one-by-one basis. In particular, a group of animals often have a tendency to herd and push each other along such that conventional gating systems must act very quickly and decisively to only allow one animal to pass a given point at once if animals are to be sorted on an individual basis. In effect, it becomes necessary for conventional gating systems to open and close very quickly and precisely which invariably risk catching animals about the neck or rump if they are passing through in quick succession and can jam an animal midway through the system rather than precisely allowing one animal at a time through the gating system.
As discussed previously, in the past where only relatively large groups of animals required sorting these problems were minimal as a relatively small number of sorting operations were required for a given group of animals. However, the increasing use of computer technology in the farming and primary sector, has allowed very precise monitoring of livestock where each animal in a large herd can be tagged and treated as an individual by automated farming machinery. Accordingly, such technology has created a need for a highly efficient and precise animal sorting module that can process a continuous throughput of stock whilst providing the facility to sort each individual animal on demand.